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HMME combined with green light-emitting diode irradiation results in efficient apoptosis on human tongue squamous cell carcinoma

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Abstract

Hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME) is a novel and promising porphyrin-related photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and potential mechanism of HMME-PDT under irradiation of green light-emitting diode (LED) with wavelength of 530 ± 20 nm in treating human tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cells in vitro. The HMME concentrations were 1.25, 2.5, and 5 μg/ml while the energy densities were 0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.4, and 3.0 J/cm2. MTT assay demonstrated that HMME-PDT significantly inhibited the proliferation of Tca8113 cells, and the cytotoxicity was improved with increased HMME concentration and light intensity. The amount of cells decreased significantly and the morphology of cells changed drastically after HMME-PDT. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that HMME-PDT induced both apoptosis and necrosis, but apoptosis was the main form of cell death. Apoptotic morphology was confirmed by Hoechst 33342 staining. Laser scanning confocal microscopy observation showed that HMME was mainly localized in mitochondria. The production of intracellular reactive oxygen species increased remarkably after PDT treatment, and both sodium azide (the singlet oxygen quencher) and d-mannitol (the hydroxyl radical scavenger) could protect Tca8113 cells from death induced by HMME-PDT. Additionally, the activity of caspase-3 also increased markedly in treated groups, and the cell death could be rescued by a reversible inhibitor (Ac-DEVD-CHO) of caspase-3. These results demonstrated that HMME combined with green LED significantly induced apoptosis of Tca8113 cells, suggesting that HMME-PDT using green LED might be a potential therapeutic strategy for human tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Juan Wang for her kindly providing the human TSCC Tca8113 cell line.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding this work.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Cell Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

      Xingqiang Lai, Xiuwen Xia & Jianzhong Liu

    2. Organ Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

      Xingqiang Lai

    3. Department of Obstetrics, Preterm Birth Prevention and Treatment Research Unit, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510623, People’s Republic of China

      Fen Ning

    4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

      Dujuan Wang, Lin Tang, Jiang Hu, Junchao Wu & Xiaoyuan Li

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    Correspondence to Xiaoyuan Li.

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    Xingqiang Lai and Fen Ning contributed equally to this work.

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    Lai, X., Ning, F., Xia, X. et al. HMME combined with green light-emitting diode irradiation results in efficient apoptosis on human tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Lasers Med Sci 30, 1941–1948 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-015-1774-x

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